Hailing from the small town of Charlemagne, Québec, Céline Dion has become one of the all-time greatest singers. Céline was born in 1968, the youngest of 14 children. Early in childhood, she sang with her siblings in a small club owned by her parents. From these early experiences, Céline gained the know-how to performing live. At the age of 12, Dion composed a song in her native French and sent it to a record company, where it garnered the attention of René Angélil, a respected manager. Angélil believed in Céline so much that he actually mortgaged his house in order to finance her debut album. Already very popular and successful internationally, Céline burst onto the U.S. stage when she recorded the theme song to Disney's hit Beauty and the Beast. The song garnered a Grammy and an Oscar, and from this point Céline has brought forth hit after hit. Her 'Falling Into You' album, released in 1996, became the best-selling album of that year, selling more than 25 million copies worldwide. In 1999, Dion took a hiatus in order to begin a family. She returned to the spotlight in 2002, releasing yet another hit album. Starting in 2003, Céline began a three-year commitment to perform in an arena built for her in Las Vegas.


1998: Honored by two governments in two days: on April 30 her home province of Québec awarded her the Ordre National du Québec, and on 1 May, she became an Officer of the Order of Canada. Born to Adhémar Dion and his wife Thérèse Tanguay, she is the youngest of 14 children. 25 January 2001: Son René-Charles Angelil born. Father is husband René Angelil. She and her siblings sit on the board of Fondation Achille-Tanguay, an organization/clearinghouse founded by her mother in 1998 which helps poor Québec families toward self-sufficiency. Name has been changed to "Fondation maman Dion" in 2006. She is three months younger than her step-son, Patrick Angélil. She endorses a line of eyewear sold in Canada and Europe. She has homes in Las Vegas and in Laval & Terrebonne, (located in the Province of Quebec), Canada. She has over 500 pairs of shoes. Her husband René Angelil is of Syrian descent, just as her paternal grandmother was. 25 June 2003: She received a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario. 2006: Estimated to have sold 220 million albums during her career to date. Her lucky charm is a 1968 Canadian nickel because she found one in Japan before she went on stage to sing at the Yamaha song contest, which she won. 1988: She won the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland, for Switzerland, with the song "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi" ("Don't Leave Without Me"). The TV broadcast of the contest was watched by 600 million viewers throughout Europe and the Middle East. Her niece Karine died of Cystic Fibrosis in her arms. She sings frequently in English and in French, but she has also sang in Spanish, German and Japanese. Has a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for selling the most French-language album of all time for "D'eux" ("The French Album"), with over 6.4 million copies sold. The album also went to #1 in England. Although considering herself not a political person, she tearfully criticized U.S. President George W. Bush regarding the Iraq War and his slow response in aiding the victims of Hurricane Katrina when she appeared on "Larry King Live" (1985). In tradition with memorial-based videos as Natalie Cole with her father and Aaliyah with Marvin Gaye, released on Elvis Presley's 72nd birthday a digital duet of herself with him from one of his 1970s TV performances. Celine played her last show at the Caesar's Palace on December 15, 2007, she received 11 standing ovations. The first was before she even finished her first song. Her sister Linda lives with her, her husband René Angelil and son René-Charles. (2007). At age 16, Céline sang "Une colombe" (a well known French song) for Pope John Paul II at the Montreal Olympic Stadium in front of 65,000 people. Started a restaurant chain in Québec called "Nickels" (1990), later on introduced in Ontario. Spectacular vocal range spanning five octaves. Sister of: Denise, Clément, Claudette, Liette, Michel, Louise, Jacques, Daniel, Ghislaine, Linda, Manon, Paul and Pauline. In May 2010, her husband René Angelil announced that Celine is pregnant with twins by her 6th treatment of in-vitro fertilization.pregnancy.